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A Spanish national court judge on Thursday found the country’s former soccer coach Luis Rubiales sexually assaulted, accusing him of kissing a star player without her consent during a medal ceremony at last summer’s Women’s World Cup in Sydney, Australia. recommended that he be brought to trial for the crime. .
Rubiales faces one to four years in prison if found guilty of sexual assault in the case that forever changed Spanish women’s soccer and sparked a debate about the legacy of sexism in the sport. It turns out.
The judge also recommended that Rubiales and three other officials from the Spanish Football Federation, including Jorge Vilda, who was sacked as the women’s team coach following the incident, be tried on charges of extortion. Immediately after the kiss, he pressured player Jennifer Hermoso to show support for Rubiales.
The judge concluded that Rubiales’ kiss was “non-consensual, unilateral and surprising.”
Prosecutors and Mr. Hermoso now have 10 days to formalize their charges, after which a trial will be held.
The verdict was the culmination of a pre-trial investigation presided over by Judge Francisco de Jorge, in which witnesses including Hermoso, officials and other players gave evidence regarding the sexual assault allegations against Rubiales in a closed hearing. The court was closed. The judge also considered videos of the kiss from different angles, as well as a video recorded on the bus after the medal ceremony, where Hermoso appeared to initially downplay the incident.
Hermoso, who is expected to represent Spain at this summer’s Paris Olympics if he qualifies, could not be reached for comment.
The player filed a criminal complaint against Rubiales in September, two and a half weeks after Rubiales forcibly kissed him on the lips on live television while on the podium celebrating a victory over England in the World Cup final. The charges paved the way for prosecutors to file a case against Rubiales.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also weighed in on the post-match scuffle, calling the kiss “unacceptable.”
Rubiales initially issued a half-hearted apology for his actions. But then he tried to shift the blame for her to Ms. Hermoso, saying that while he was hugging her, she “pushed me close to her body.” He received a standing ovation from his football federation colleagues after refusing to resign and delivering a defiant speech in which he slammed what he called “fake feminism”.
In response, members of the Spanish women’s national soccer team and dozens of other players signed an ultimatum, meaning they would not take to the field for their country “if the current coach remains in charge,” meaning Spain’s Olympic ticket. He vowed that his chances of winning could be blown away.
Players at professional clubs in Spain disrupted the league’s opening weekend in September by going on strike over low pay, maternity leave and harassment policies, amid growing public scrutiny of working conditions in Spanish women’s soccer.
Rubiales initially resisted calls to resign. However, less than a month after the World Cup final, a court issued a restraining order against him, and he resigned as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation and vice president of European football governing body UEFA.
By October, FIFA, soccer’s governing body, had initially suspended the player for 90 days for the incident, but banned him from competitive action for three years.
Rubiales is also the subject of an investigation by anti-corruption prosecutors over the misuse of federation funds.
Other heads are rolling too. Wilda, an ally of Rubiales, has faced accusations of controlling behavior towards international players in 2022 and was replaced as the team’s coach in September despite leading the team to victory at the World Cup a month earlier. He was dismissed. He was replaced by Monse Tomé, Spain’s first female national team coach.
Mark A. Walsh I contributed a report from London.
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